Life In Dance

By Julia Gilichinskaya

On May 4, 2010, virtuosic Swiss duo, Martin Zimmermann and Dimitri de Perrot, presented their show “Gaff Aff” in Baryshnikov Art Center in New York. The New York Times said they “have achieved a considerable reputation for their precisely calibrated blend of mime, physical theater and silent-movie-style comedy.” “Gaff Aff” includes a whimsical set that incorporates a giant turntable and the choreographer and the DJ/composer combine circus acrobatics, dance, and mime to explore the fragile, contradictory nature of being human.

That was their debut in the USA. “I was really surprised to discover they had never been here,” ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov said in an interview with The New York Times. “When I saw their work, I was very, very impressed. They are really innovators in my view.” He wanted to help them to organize their performance in America earlier, but he did not have an appropriate place for it.

Now Baryshnikov has his own Art Center in New York and helps artists to arrange their shows there. The center features many premieres.

Baryshnikov is one the most celebrated artists in the dance world. His extraordinary, enduring talent prompted Time magazine to proclaim he was "the greatest living dancer." Rising to stardom in classical ballet, Baryshnikov has followed his passion for dancing for over 40 years in a range of dance disciplines.

Born in the USSR, he is one of the best ballet dancers of the 20th century and has become famous in the USA. He used to be a classic dancer, a choreographer, an actor, an important figure in modern art and women’s favourite and is now 62 years old.

Baryshnikov started his dancing career in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad. In 1974, he defected to Canada for more opportunities in western dance. After freelancing with many companies, he joined the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer to learn George Balanchine's style of movement. He then moved to New York to dance with the American Ballet Theatre.

From 1990 to 2002, Baryshnikov was an artistic director of the White Oak Dance Project, a touring company he co-founded with Mark Morris. This project was geared for older dancers, who by critics’ standards were beyond the craft. In 2006, he founded the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.

Baryshnikov has danced more than 100 different works in his illustrious ballet career, from the classic “Giselle,” “Don Quixote,” “Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove,” and “George Balanchine's Apollo.” He has been a leading guest artist on the world's greatest ballet stages. Most of the world's foremost choreographers have created works especially for him.

Russian poet Iosif Brodsky dedicated several poems to Mikhail Baryshnikov. His style of dancing became a new dance trend. His performances are full of emotions, his own gestures, and he combines the strength of his stage and purity of his classical technique. Because of his talent he became a famous dancer all over the world.

Baryshnikov started acting in movies in the 1970s. He appeared in the movie “The Turning Point” in 1977 and was nominated for an Oscar. In 1985 he starred with Gregory Hines in “White Nights” and again in “Dancers” in 1987. In the sixth season of “Sex and the City,” he played a Russian artist, Aleksandr Petrovsky, who woos Carrie Bradshaw relentlessly and takes her to Paris.

In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He has received three Honorary Degrees from Shenandoah University, New York University, and Montclair State University. He has four children, still works as a dancer and a choreographer, and takes pictures and participates in photo exhibitions. He continues to travel between Russia and America after all these years. Russian people are proud of Baryshinikov who has become an important part of modern American art.